Mason Corridor upgrades have allowed trains to travel at 20 mph, allowing them to get in and out of Old Town more quickly.

Jan. 29, 2013

A BNSF freight train rolls north into Old Town Fort Collins on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Starting earlier this month, BNSF trains are traveling at 20 mph through the city, up from 10 mph before the tracks were rebuilt as part of the Mason Corridor project. / Trevor Hughes/The Coloradoan

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Pedestrians rush across the BNSF railroad tracks on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, as a freight train approaches. BNSF trains are now traveling through the city at 20 mph, double the speed they ran before the tracks were upgraded this summer as part of the Mason Corridor project. / Trevor Hughes/The Coloradoan

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Thanks to last summer’s track upgrades, trains are rolling through Fort Collins twice as fast, decreasing wait times for drivers trying to get across the city.

Trains run along the Mason Corridor tracks west of College Avenue up to 12 times daily. The trains are now running at 20 mph through the city, up from the 10 mph before the track upgrades, BNSF Railway officials confirmed on Tuesday.

“The higher train speed will reduce wait time at public crossings. However, BNSF would like to remind motorists, bikers and pedestrians that trains cannot stop quickly at any speed,” BNSF spokesman Andy Williams said. “The public should be aware of rail traffic at all times and obey all grade-crossing laws for the safety of everyone.”

The trains began running at 20 mph on Jan. 9.

“We’ve definitely noticed the change in the speed. It means a little less time with them blasting their horns in front of the restaurant,” said Sean Olander, a co-owner of Restaurant 415 on Mason Street. “It’s a nice change on our end.”

The greater speeds will also likely make it harder for people to jump aboard, something that can come with disastrous consequences. In 2011, a CSU student lost her legs after falling under a freight train she was trying to hop aboard in Longmont. The woman told police she and her friends were trying to catch a ride back to Fort Collins.

The trains’ frequent trips through the city have long inconvenienced drivers on streets from Harmony Road north to LaPorte Avenue in Old Town. The trains used to run at 15 mph, but the speed was reduced to 10 mph through the city several years ago over safety concerns about the tracks.

The tracks were upgraded this summer as part of the Mason Corridor/MAX rapid-transit project, and speeds were bumped first to 15 mph and then to the current 20 mph.

If the trains remain the same length, the increased speeds mean they’ll pass through the city twice as fast.

“In theory, it’s simple math,” said city traffic engineer Joe Olson.

But many factors play a role in how long drivers have to wait for trains in the city, from how many trains there are to how long each train is, and even whether an emergency vehicle has recently passed through the area, pre-empting the traffic lights from their normal cycles.

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The increased speed on the BNSF line does not affect the trains on the separate Union Pacific line that runs along, and often blocks access across, Riverside Avenue. Nor does it change the federal requirement that the trains begin blowing their horns at least 15 seconds before entering level crossings.

To help measure how the new train speeds affect traffic, Olson is preparing to hire a private company that can provide real-time traffic data from vehicles across the city. The company uses GPS data collected anonymously from drivers’ mobile phones to measure how quickly cars move around the city. The system works similarly to the traffic reports generated by anyone who uses, for instance, the Google Maps app on their smartphone.

Olson said the system will allow engineers to see how changes to traffic light timing or intersections affect traffic flow. Traffic speeds were previously measured by a city worker driving around with a stopwatch.

“In order to spend the taxpayers’ money more effectively, we need to know if what we’re doing is working,” Olson said. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it.”